Electrical switch.



B D HORTON. ELECTRICAL SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED NOV. I8 I9I3. 7

1,190,903. I Patented July 11, 1916.

FIG. 3."

FIG-2.

. \othrwise be I as as to permit the openingof the cover of 'the I BRYSON D. HORTON, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

To (git "whomz'tmay concern: I

Bedtknowri that I, Bizrsou D. HORTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroitfln the county of YVayne and State of Michigan, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Electrical Switches,

of which j t'he"'i?ollowing,"taken in connection Witli aecompanyingsheet ofdrawings, is a full 'leiai and concise description. i

)resent invention relates to certain improv "'eiitsfin electrical switches, and

more 1' arti ciila1'ly to switch Operating n' eans especially appheableto switches'otthe 1nel osed type in which the switch mechanism" lsarranged with n andprotected'by a sultable' housing. In switches otjthis'charao ter itis necessary to provide means for op crating the SWltClifIOIll theoutside of the casingflwithout opening the casing; as the protective advantages of the latterwould not means" should, h'oweveflbe of as simple a character as possiblein ordertofsecure' sure ness "of action and reduce. the cost of inanu facture. .flhe operating .hieans should also be preferably of such a natureas to permit easy V opening" the cover so as to permitjinspection 1; repair of the sivitchreplalcenient. cram;

Oheofthe, objects of my invention is to provide a switch, construction including an operatingineans a veryfsnnple character h capable of operating the switch from the outside of the.casingfand of suchja nature casir'ig' without dismantling. the operating y-nieans. It is also desirable that tlieoperat- 1 is often desirable to en iploy an accelerating ing mechanism be such as to produce asub 's t antialthrow of the inovable switch con tactsfso as to avoid ai'cing'and to provide fora'quielg break. 7 For the latter purpose it springfand, aiiording asubsltantial move- Inent of the inovable contacts, prov s on may be made for a cons derable tQIi SI OHlDg of such acceleratipg spring This increased. tension .enablQsLIthe spriug lto act more e tfecactively in producing the qlu'ickbreak. v a

' is anotherobjeeflofmyinye ition, there-o.

fore, provide a switch ope ting mecha a renew ble the e 1 a pnatita a eamvembns, 1913. Serial No. 891,755. 7

secured." These operating access tothe interior otthe casing,

-. ELECTRICAL SWITCH.

i specification of Letters retain. t t d J ly 1 ,19

cient use of an accelerating spring where such spring; is considered desirable.

Itisa further object of the invention to provide an improved accelerating spring nechanism.

In switches of the knife-blade type'fand in siinilar constructions in which blades are received between the Jaws of fixed'contacts, I

a substantial force is required to be exerted upon the movable contacts in order to open ta ets simultaneously so as to break both sides of the line at the same instant. Moreover it is deisrable to apply thetorce in such manner as hot to twist or distort the parts of the switehsor apply undue stresses to the v be of'the knife-blade type havingtwo or more blades or movable contacts connected by a bar orcross-l1ead, it is desirable to apply the opening force in such, manner as to 11love all'of the blades or movable. contactsf simultaneously and evenly so as to break all of the contacts at the sametiine and motto twist the knife-blades about their pivots; or rack the connections between the blades and the cross heads. p

It isfan'objeet of my invention to avoid these objectionable possibilities. This I accomplish by yproviding operating means adapted to exert asubstantially balanced force uponthe movable. contacts with re spect to, their points of support. More specifically, it is an object-of my invention to provide an operating means connected to 'the cross-head of the knifeblade or similar switch in such way as to elementsthereOf. Forexampleflt the switch i exert a balanced force thereon as for h stance, by connecting" the operating" means to an intermediate portion of the cross-head between the pointso't connection of the moVA able contacts, thereto.

In, this way satis- L. factory operation of the switch 1s insured, and, at the same time, simple and cheap construction may be employed, accurate. ahnenient and fitting of the parts, and r1- gidity thereof "not 'being required.

Other objects a nd advantages of the in v.rention will appearfrornthe follour'ing desci-i ption of one preferred embodiment thereof. whichlis' shown in the accompanying (lrawingsanddescribed in detail as illusprinciples ot the. inventiona trativeflof a preferred,application' of "the 1 In the drawihgs FQ-Figure 1 illustrates a I plan view ,ofah. arn oiclad switch inte the switch. This force should be applied in 4 such a way as to separate all of the conporating the features of my invention, a fragment of the cover being shown in its open position. Fig. Q isa. view in side elevation showing the operating crank the position it assumes when the contacts are closed. Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on line A A; of Fig. 1, showing the portion of the operating handle and. the contacts in the position assumed when the latter are in their open position.

Referring now in detail, 1 indicates a me tallic casing provided with a hinged cover; 2. Upon the bottom of the casing is mopnted a base of insulating material 3 upon which the jaw contacts 4 and cooperating pivotal knife-blade contacts '5 are mounted. The

knife-blade contacts 5 are connected bymeans of a cross head 6, which cross head carries an eye 7 WlllCll' forms abearmg for :the end 8 of the operating U shaped crank. 9 the latter being mounted in a suitable .b'e'ar I ing 10 in the side of the casing."

The operating crank is thus supp rted laterally of the pivotal supports of the knife blades and ispreferably so arranged with relation to the latter as to be capahlepf pro'- ducing a substantial throw of the switch. This is best accomplished by locating the crank bearing in substantial'alinement with the pivotal bearings ofthe knife blades,.or. in such relation thereto as to ermit of a large range of movement of the nife'blades and'operating crank together. Preferablalso the cross head connecting the kni e blade contacts is arranged at orv near the ends of the latter as this gives better su port to the blades and maintains them ,1n

more satisfactory alinement, and the inner. arm of the operating crank is extended into proximitywithand connected to the crosscad.v In theconstruction illustrated the interior arm 9" of the operating member extends in a direction substantially parallel with and adjacent to theside otfthe casing where it-is out of the way, and it carries a'transverse' extension portion 9'. which extends substan tially parallel with the cross-hepd. Connec;

tion is made between this lateral extension portion'and the cross-head-in such 'a'way as to provide to! a balancedpu'll upon the latter, this being accomplished in the construction shown by passing the lateral extenson' portion through the eye i, as h'eretoiore e;

- scribed. Theeye 7 being located at'o'r near the center of the cross-head, results in a balanced'force being exerted upon the latter by the operating crank and the connection'ber ing of a loose or piyotal naturepermits the force to be equalized so that irregularitiesin .the movement of the operating crank, such"- .as might be caused by im roper alincment thereof, will not;betrans'm1tted to the cross-K head. In the particular construction of the switch illustratedthe exterior arm 9 of-the switch by the handle 11 providediettheen ,sible everage the receptac e.

operating crank extends substantiallyan allel with the side of the casing, thus pr uc ing 'a'compact structure, and- 1t isalso' pref era-blyof greater length than the inte'rionw, arm of the crankv affording in remggw leverage too-facilitate the operation of, the

of thecrankp Q By oscillating therank 9, anelect' circuit ma be established or broken? 1! sired, the on? position of the switchmech anism being shown in Fig. 1 while thoflfofl" o sition is shown in-F 3b: the drawings.

n order to insures os1tive on." connection between the movab e and: -stati;ona'r com 80,; tacts, I provide an expansion spi'in' 4 2,. one end ofwhich is held by meansof a ook 13,;f., I

fastrtotheiside of the casing; the opposite; end of the spring is; connected to the operatai crank operating arm 9.- The hook 13 which '9 holds one Iendof the'sprjing'is so positioned;

with respect, to,-the pivot point of the oscil-,

l ating crank. arm as to cause the spring to expand when the contacts are thrown into their on position, the sprin tension op- 10c posingthis'movemnt, the ten ency being to p open the switch. This tendency is overcomeas soon as the lmife-blades fully pass between the jaw contacts into full contachmak ing position, This movement causes the. spri to oscillate during its expansion sothat' tsipoi'nt of connection with the hook 13, its-point of connection with link '14, the

'pivot point 16 of'the links 14 and 15 and'th'e pivot oint of the'operating member in the 11;. side 0 the casin "are substantially on a death center line. us the spri pressure prevented from being .exert lade contacts one way or another exceptin to assure their positive disconnection wit the j aw CQ itactswhen being thrown to of! 1 position. However, as soon as the operating handleis moved to break the connection between the contacts and the-pivoted conx'ieotions'16 of the links is lowered an'dmoved ou't' from this lalinement, the tensionjs immediately directed to contract tlie'fyf 'ring the latter exerting a corres onding ten i to throw the movable switc contacts to s The considerable degree 1 of movement 0 the movable contacts for which the prefegw i, construction of my switch provides I .of asubstantialtensioning of the meanting spring when the switch is manipulated; 1

and insures the effective operation of such a spring, The appreciable movement of the crank or operating handle provided for also enables the operating handle to assume widely separated positions which indicate clearly at all times the condition of the,

switch whether closed or open.- The large range of movement of the parts 1s also advantageous inycase it is desired to provide means for locking the switch in open position as it permits the contactsto be widely separated before lockingand may infact be used to provide threepositions for the switch, namely: a closed position, an opera tive open position and a locked open posi:

tion, as disclosed, for instance, in myfco1n panion Patent, N 0. 1,114,988.

including a metallic casing provided with a cover, a ,switch mechanism therein, said switch mechanism including, a pair of spaced-apart stationary jaw co n-acts, a. pair of pivoted movable knife bladecontacts, a crossdiead of non-conducting 1naterial connecting said knife blade contacts at their free ends, an operating crank journaled in said casing'lateral ly of andsubstantially in line with the axis of the movable pivoted knife blade contacts, said operating crank arm having portion ex tending adjacent to said cross-head at a point intermediate its connection with the movably mounted pivoted knife blade contacts and operably connected thereto, and means for accelcratingthe movement of the movable pivoted knife blade contacts when being thrown to' their ofi' position," said means comprisingan expansion spr ng CO1! nected at one end to one side ofjtheicasing, and at its opposite end to the operating crank arm, substantially described.

2; In an iron-clad switch of the character described, in combination with stationary and movable contacts, an operating crank cooperating with said contacts and extending through the casingcand provid ing for exterior manipulation, an expansionspring connected at one end to the side of the casing and at its. opposite end to a link, asecond link having pivot connection with id first link, the points :of connec 'tion. ofsaidspring and operating links being such "w ith respect to the bearing point of the": operating crank that these points will be brought substantially into 'alinement on a dead center line with thespring fully expanded by .the movement of the operating crank when connection is made between the contacts.

In a switchof the character described,

the combination of a metallic casing, a

switch mechanism therein, saidswitch meclr anism including pairs ,of: spaced-apart -co operating contacts, one pair. being mounted stationary, upon a base of insulating material, and the other pair being movconnecting'the movable cont-acts at 7 their free ends, and a 0116-P1BC6 operating crank ably mounted; with respect; thereto, of" a l cross-head made of insulating material," a

mounted in the side of the casing, its in weirdly-extending free end having operable vconnection withwthe: insulating cros's-head at a point intermediate the contactsand provided with an exterior end-portion, said crank being pivotally mounted in the side of the casing" at a point substantially in line with the pivot points of the movable contacts, whereby substantial movement of the movable contacts through an arc of a circle is obtained when. operated.

4. A switch mechanism including a plu reality of spaced stationary contacts, a plurality of spaced knife-blade contacts pivotally mounted in cooperative relation there to, a cross head connecting said spa'ced knife-blade contacts near .their free ends,

an ope 'ating member pivotally-sup ported laterally of and :in substantial alinement with. the pivot points of said knife-blade contacts, and provided witha portion-entending into proximity to and operably connected with the cross-head by means exerting a substantially balanced force on said crossheadewith relation to the pivot supports of said knife-blade contacts when said operating member is. operated to new ate the switch. I 1

5. A sw-itchmechanism including a plurality of spaced stationary contacts, a plurality of spacedknife-blade contacts pivotally mounted in cooperating relation there- :to, a cross-head connecting said spaced knife-blade contacts near their free ends, an operating member pivotally mounted laterally o t-land "in substantial alinement with the pivot pointsofjsaid knife blade contacts and having a portionbXtendihg from the pivotal support into proximity to said cross head, and means cm'inecting said Iceportion with said cross-head, intermediatev of, the knife-blade contacts, whereby said member; will exert a substantial ly balanced force upon'sald cross-head.

G. A switch mechanism including a plu-,,

rality of spaced Jstationary contacts, a plurality of spaced"knife-bladecontacts pivotally mounted in cotlperativc relation thereto, a cross-head; counectingfsaid spaced knife-blade contacts near their free ends, an operating crank member pivotally supported substantially in alinement with the.

pivot points of the knife blade contacts and including an arm extending toward the crosshead, and a transverse member carried by said arm extending adjacent to said cross-head and connected therewith by means applying a substantially balanced force to said cross-head when said crank is operated to open or close the switch.

7 A switch mechanism including a pair of spaced stationary contacts, a pair .of spaced pivotally mounted knife-blade contacts, a cross-head connecting said knifeblade contacts near their free ends, an operating crank member supported and journaled at a point substantially in alinement with the pivot points of the knifeblade contacts and comprising an arm ex-. tending toward the cross-head, sud arm,

points of said knife-blade contacts and provided with a portion extending into proximity to said cross-head, and means loosely connecting said portion with the central portion of said cross-head whereby said operating member will exert a substantially balanced force on said cross-head.

3 9. A switch mechanism including a plurality of spaced stationary contacts, a plurality of spaced pivotally mounted knife blade contacts, a cross head connecting said knife blade contacts near their free ends, an operating member pivotally supported ;laterally of the pivot'points of said knife blade contacts and provided with a portion extending into proximity to said cross head, and means connected to an intermediate portion {if said cross head and "forming an eye through which said operatingmember ext'ends.

' 10. A switch of the character described, including a casing, a base of insulated material therein, a plurality of spacedstationary contaicts mounted on said base, a plurality of spaced knife-blade contacts pivoitally supported .at one end on said base and adapted when extending in a direction substantially parallel to said base to engage said stationary contacts, a cross-head of insulating material connecting said knife-blade contacts near their extremities, an operating member having pivotal support laterally of and in substantial alinement with the pivotal points of said knife blade contacts, and including an actuatin handle outside of said casing,

and a mem er insidebf said casing, said insulating material connecting theknife blade contacts at their free ends, an operating crank journaled in the side of thecasing at a point substantially in line with the pivot points of the knife-blade contacts, said op- .eratingcrank being provided with a pair of arms, one arm being located within the easing, and provided with a lateral extension having operable connection with the crosshead at a point intermediate the spaced knife-blade contacts, the other arm being "longer and arranged exterior of the casing and serving as an operating member by means of which the circuit may be controlled.

12. A switch of the character described, including a metallic housing provided with a cover, said switch mechanism including a pair of spaced stationary contacts and a. pair of spaced cooperating pivoted contacts,

'a cross-head connecting the extremities of said movable contacts an operating crank journaled in the housing and adapted for exterior manipulation, said operating crank provided with arms which are substantially lbi parallel with the sides of the casing andhaving a'bearing in the side of the casing substantially in alinement with the pivot points of the movable contacts, one arm being interior of the-casing and provided with an extension which connects with the crosshead, whereby the movable contacts may be caused to transcribea substantial arc when moved toward or away from the stationary contacts, and means for accelerating the movement of the knife-blade contacts when being thrown to their ofi position, said.

means comprising a spring one end ofwhich is connected to the casing andthe other end of which is connected to the operating crank.

13. A switch of the character described, including a .casing provided with a hinged cover, switch mechanism within the casing including stationary and coiiperating pivoted contacts, a cross-head connecting the movable contacts at their free ends, an operating crank journaled in the side of the casing at a point substantially in line with the .pivot mg crank being provided with interior and crating mechanism. exterior arms, thearm within the casing eX- 15. A switch of the character described, 3a tending toward thepro'ss-head and being proincluding a casing havingv a bottom, substan- 5 vicled with a lateral extension in a plane tially vertical side walls and a hinged cover,

. parallel with the cross-head, and aconnecta base of insulating material mounted upon ing link between the operating crank and the the bottom of said casing, a plurality of sta cross-head, and means for accelerating the tionary jaw contacts on said base, a plurality 40 movement oftheknife-blade contacts when of knife-blade contacts pivotally mounted at 10 being thrown to-their off position, said one end on said base and adapted to 'co means comprising a spring one end of which operate with said stationary jaw contacts, a is connected to the casing and the other end H cross-head of insulating; material connected of which is cnnected to the operating crank. to the outer ends of saidknife-blade contacts, 46 14 A switch of the char'acterrlescribed, an eye affixed centrally to said cross-head, a

1 including acasing having a bottom, substan lever pivotally mounted in a vertical wall tially vertical side walls and a hinged cover, of said casing and having aportion passing a base of insulating material mounted upon through said eye and having a handle porthe bottom of saidcasing; a plurality of station outside of said casing, whereby said 50 tionary jaw contacts on said base, a plurality lever will exert a. substantially balanced 20 of knife-blade contacts pivotally mounted at force on said cross-head to open said switch .one end on'sa'id base and adapted to 'cooperand said cover may be opened without dis- .ate with said stationary jaw contacts, an inmantling the switch-operating mechanism,

points of themovable contacts, said operatopened without dismantling said switch op sulating cross-head, connecting said knifeandan acceleratin spring for assisting in 55 blade contacts neaf" their free ends, a lever the operation of said'switch.

pivoted in a vertical wall of'said casing and In witness whereof I have hereunto set my havinga portion extending in proximity to hand in the presence of two subscribing wit- I and plvotally connected with an intermedi-. nesses. portion of said cross-head, said lever havmg'an operating handle outside of'said cas- BRYSON O 7 3 ing, whereby said lever may be operated to Witnesses:

,exert a balanced force on said cross-head to HARRY S. FREEMAN, ",open said switch, and said cover may be IGNATIUS W. KAHN; I 

